Subject:  Sparrow Identification Seminar |
Author:
Ken- CT
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Date Posted: 06:44:06 10/01/03 Wed
Here they come...the LBJs (little brown jobs) that is. It is sparrow migration season folks, so put the guide in your pocket and try to look closely at every bird as they dive for cover. To help you reduce your level of frustration and get you back in the field we of the COA have concocted an event that is bound to please even the most frustrated sparrow id'er.
PLEASE READ BELOW.
COA, Connecticut Audubon and Natchaug Ornithological Society Sparrow Identification Seminar
Connecticut Audubon, the Connecticut Ornithological Association and the Natchaug Ornithological Society will jointly sponsor a Sparrow Identification Seminar starting at Connecticut Audubon's Bafflin Sanctuary in Pomfret on Saturday October 11, 2003.
The Connecticut Audubon Center at Pomfret will be the starting point for activities that will consist of a field identification trip on the Bafflin Sanctuary grounds, followed by a field trip to the UCONN Storrs campus and the famous Parking lot W. After lunch at Storrs Dr. Chris Elphick will conduct an indoor review of the plumage of sparrows that visit Connecticut utilizing the long stored UCONN skin collection. Discussions and Chris' presentation will take place in the newly constructed Biotechnology building on North Eagleville Road at UCONN utilizing the UCONN study skin collection.
We will start the day at 8:00 AM in Pomfret at the new Connecticut Audubon Center at Pomfret where Ken Elkins and Andy Rzeznikiewicz will lead the attendees to the sparrow locations and food plots on the 700 acre CT Audubon Bafflin Sanctuary. We can expect to see a variety of sparrows at Bafflin that may include Song, Swamp, Savannah, Vesper, Field, Fox, White-throated, White-crowned and who knows what else.
At approximately 10:30 AM, the group lead by Jamie Meyers, Ken Elkins and Andy Rzeznikiewicz will depart Bafflin for parking Lot W at the UCONN campus that has over the years produced a very regular stream of interesting sparrow species. We will meet Chris Elphick and Steve Morytko at approximately 11:00 AM at UCONN Lot W and continue the field portion of the Seminar there.
The Lot W area is composed a variety of habitats including wetlands, a small pond, brushy areas, cultivated fields, and woodlands. Willows, brush and weedy areas around the pond next to the parking lot are good for sparrows and warblers. Brown Thrasher and Savannah Sparrow nest in the area. Vesper Sparrows are often found during migration. Large flocks of Bobolink use the cornfields in late summer. Raptors are common in all seasons. In late fall look for Killdeer and American Pipits. In winter Canada Geese, Horned Larks and Snow Buntings are regularly found in the adjacent fields and in some years Northern Shrike. Walking the field edges and woodland road, you can see a wide variety of species. Some of the more unusual birds that have been found here include Northern Wheatear, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Lark Sparrow.
We will bird at lot W until approximately 12:30 PM when we will eat a self-provided picnic lunch.
Following the morning field trips and lunch, we will join Chris Elphick at 1:15 PM for an interesting "bird in the hand" presentation in the new Biotechnology building on North Eagleville Road (directly West of Torrey Life Sciences at UCONN) where the bird skin collection is stored. This part of the day should provide a good look at the new facilities and at the same time let us use the sparrows and "sparrow like' specimens in the skin collection to see representatives of those species that got away during the morning. The skin collection has more study skins of birds taken in Connecticut than any other collection in the world. We extend our thanks to Connecticut State Ornithologist Margaret Rubega who arranged for use of the collection.
We expect to complete the day at approximately 2:30 PM.
Although we hope for a good day, the rain date for this event is the next Saturday October 18. We will use the same schedule on the rain date.
A notice of postponement will be sent with the daily email bird report from the Electronic Committee of the COA on October 10. If you do not receive the report, please call Tom Kilroy at 203-929-6683 or 800-223-2236 for an update of the status of the Seminar.
In case you want to visit before the Seminar use these directions:
The Connecticut Audubon Center at Pomfret is at 189 Pomfret Street (Rt. 169), Pomfret Center, CT 06258. For more information, call 860-928-4948 or see http://www.ctaudubon.org/centers/pomfret/pomfret.htm . This area of
the State is very scenic so look at http://www.ctquietcorner.org/ .
From Interstate 395 take Exit 93, travel west, left, onto Rte. 101 through Dayville to Pomfret. Turn right on Rte. 169 North; the Bafflin Sanctuary is about a half mile on the right. Park in the field by the red barn.
From Hartford: take Interstate 84 East, take the Willington Exit 69, Route 74; follow Route 74 through Willington to Ashford, turn left onto Route 44 East toward Putnam; at the intersection with Rte. 101, continue to the junction with Route 169. Turn left (toward Pomfret); the Bafflin Sanctuary is about a half mile on the right.
Parking Lot W at the UCONN Campus can be reached as follows. Take interstate I-84 to exit 68 and then follow Rte. 195 south to a point 0.75 miles south of its intersection with Route 44. Turn right when you see the low University of Connecticut sign and turn right again after the information booth. The parking lot ahead of you is Lot W. Parking is strictly regulated at UConn and generally enforced Monday to Friday 7am-4pm. See the following for a map of the campus http://www.park.uconn.edu/mappage.htm
If you plan to be on campus during these times you are advised to park in a parking garage and walk or take a bus to Lot W. Check the UConn web site ( http://216.87.181.147/home.asp ) for authoritative information.
See the Connecticut Vertebrate Bird Collection online at: http://collections2.eeb.uconn.edu/collections/birds/birds.html
The collection began with the donation of study skins, (dated between 1875 and 1925) from the private collections of J.H. Sage and W.E. Treat, and emphasizes the fauna of Connecticut and the northeastern U.S. There are also specimens from the Aleutian Islands, Paraguay and other areas. The study skin collection holds more Connecticut specimens than any other in the world. Particularly noteworthy are the raptors. In addition, the collection includes approximately 1,000 bird skeletons (ranked 49th in size internationally in 1983), over 1,000 fluid preserved bird specimens (ranked 25th in size internationally in 1983), one of the few known feather collections in the world (from the work of emeritus Prof. Alan Brush) and a valuable collection of nests and eggs from the turn of the century.
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